Hydraulic can washer



May 4 1926.

, 'r. 1.. VALERIUS ET AL HYDRAULIC CAN WASHER Filed Febw i, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 4 1926.

T. LQHVALERIUS ET AL HYpRAuLIccm WASHER Filed Feb. 4; 1922 a Sheets-Shet2 I aid/M256 M w .4

May 4 1926.

' T. L. VALERIUS ET AL HYDRAULIC CAN WASH-ER 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 4, 1922 Y N A Qia Weada lids Patented May 4, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'rnnononn L. VALERIUS, on WAUKEGAN, ILIJNOIS, AND OLAF LARsEN," 015 FORT ATKINSON, WISCONSIN, 'ASSIGNORS TO i CREAMERY I PAC AGE MFG. COMPANY,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A conroRA'rIo OFILLINOIs.

HYDRAULIC CAN wAsIinn.

,Application filed February 4-, 1922. Serial No. 534,036.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that We, THEODORE L. VALE- RI-US and OLA}? LARsEN, residing, respectively, at \Vaukegan, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, and at FortAtkinson, in the county of Jefferson and State of Visconsin, have invented certain new and .useful Improvements in Hydraulic Can Wasln ers, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to mechanical washing apparatus and more specifically to an improvedhydraulic can washer.

One object of our inventionis to produce such an apparatus especiallyadapted to handle ice'cream containers of all sizes as well as covers for the same; and ice cream brick pans. I

' ,Another object is :to eliminate rubbing between the parts of the machine and the containers going through the machine. I

Anotherobject is to carry the containers through the machine in a horizontal position. An advantage of the construction we employ is that it is very easy to arrange it so as to prevent contamination between the different cleansing and sterilizing baths; Another advantage is that the mechanical parts .may be so arranged as to'be very easily cleaned.

'Furtherjobjects and advantages of our in- I vention will become apparent as the description proceeds. f

In the'accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a sectional plan view of a washing apparatus in which our inventionhas been embodied, shown as with the top wall of the machine removed. I

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the machine shown as with a sidewall removed.

= Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on H V p [as for instance, by attachment to upwardly the vertical plane of the line 3'3 in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view" taken on the plane of the line 4-4 in Fig. 2.

This application is a continuation in part of our previous application. Serial No. 409,172, filed Sept. 9th, 1920. y

lected for illustration hereimthe cleaning part of the apparatus comprises a tank 1 divided into'two compartments 2 and 3, each of the latter being equipped with conveyor means for carrying the cans through the apparatus. If so desired, the compartments may be constructed as separate tank units and ]01]1(Il end to end. Each conveyor comprises a moving caniforwarder andfa station links 01' a chain 7"passing over an idler sprocket 8 at the other end.

arms 9xon a bracket 10which is slidably supported on three rods 11 having telescoping engagement with a. frame 12 the opposite end of which has U-shaped terminals 13 em bracing sleeves 14 forming part of the bearings for the shaft 5.

i As illustrated in Fig. 4, these hearings preferably comprise the "outer sleeves 14, :having flanges 15 suitably secured to the side I .walls of the tank, and supportingrenewable innerbearingsleeves 16 for the shaft 5.v An

Theidler sprocket 8 is pivotally mounted between end cap 17 may be removably secured to the outer sleeve 14 t0 protectthe bearings:

The center one'ofthe three rods 11 is preteraloly screw threaded'and provided with nuts 18 on oppositesides of the end cross member-of the frame 12 through which the rod freely passes, and by means ofwhich the longitudinal position of the bracket10 may be adjustably positioned toproperly tension the chain-7.- I Q g The chain carries a plurality of regularly spacedbars 19 extending from side to side of ,the tank, each of the bars carrying U-shaped clips 20, the arms of which project upwardly from the uppersection ofjthe forwarder for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

. The ends of the bars. are steadied and guided at the sides ofthe machine by guide 'shoes21 suitably: mounted onv the frame 12,

projecting lugs '22 carriedv by the frame. A pluralityot longitudinal stripsor slats 23 overlie the forwarder and form a stationary rackto support the cans as they pass through the machine. 1 In the embod ment of our invention se-;

The cans. are laid ina horizontal position so that they roll sideways along the slats 23 a I being pushed along by contact with ,the upwardly projecting arms of the U-shaped clips 20 on-the forwarder. Thev ends ofthe' slats 23 are bent downwardly'as at 24 so that the cansafter traveling the length of the first conveyor will roll down by gravity onto the similarly arranged slats 23 overlying the second or rear forwarder, the ends of the latter slats being inclined downwardly as at 24 to permit the cans to roll to the end of the tank where they may be delivered upon a suitable rack or drier as fragmentarily indicated at 25.

Any suitable power driven means for actuating the forwarders may be employed. We have illustrated an electric motor 26, mounted on a suitable standard positioned laterally of the tank, and connected by a belt 27 and pulley 28 to a shaft 29 journaled in an appropriate housing secured to the tank and carrying a pair of loose change speed pinions 30 and 31 adapted to be operatrvely engaged by a sliding clutch member 32 spliced on the shaft 29 and operable by a yoke carried by a shifting rod 33 extendmg through the housing.

The pinions 30 and 31 are in operatlve engagement respectively with the gears 34 and 35, of different diameter, fixed on a shaft 36. The latter shaft extends longitudinally of the tank and through a pair of casings 37 and 38 housing respectively the outer ends of the shaft 5 in each of the forwarders. Within each of the casings, the shaft 36 carries a worm 89 (Fig. 4) in driving engagement with a worm gear 40 secured to the shaft 5, by which the respective forwarder chains are driven. The change speed mechanism is advantageous in adapting the speed of the forwarders to the condition of the cans being washed.

Suitable'means are provided for exposing the cans as they pass over each conveyor to the action of a number of powerful jets of cleansing fluid in the front tank and to similar jets of rinsing; and sterilizing fluid in the second tank. f This means may be of the form described in our previous application Serial No. 409,172, or, as illustrated herein, that set forth in the pending application Serial No. 515,497 filed Nov. 16th,

1921 and fully described therein.

Stated generally for present purposes, the

' washing and rinsing jet mechanism comprises a pairof jet heads 41 oppositely positionedon the lateral walls of each of the compartments, and having inwardly directed orifices 41 adapted to deliver a pressure spray of liquid from the opposed heads forcibly upon the surfaces of the passing 7 cans, thoroughly cleansing and rinsing them during their progress through the machine.

' Each of the tank compartments preferably is part full of a suitable fiuid which is withdrawn through a pair of screens 42,

successively positioned transversely of the tankat each end in sliding frames removable for cleaning, and through an intake pipe 43, by a suitable pump 44. From the latter the fluid is delivered through a riser pipe 45 and a horizontal pipe 46 to one of each of the pairs of jet heads 41, and to the respective opposite head through an overhead pipe connection 47. The pump for the first compartment may be driven by a suitable connection of its shaft with the shaft of the motor 26, similar motor and connection (not shown) being employed to drive the other pump for the rear or rinsing compartment.

The conveyors extend at a slight upward inclination, as clearly shown in the drawings, so that the fluid On the cans as it drains off will tend to fall back into the compartment from which it came, and the front compartment terminates in a partition wall 48 extending upwardly to a level considerably above the level of the/liquid in the tank. Pivoted doors 49 are provided which may be readily swung out of the way by engagement with the cans a-s they pass through the machine. The doors are-positioned to prevent the splashing of the sprayed liquid from one compartment to the other, and out the ends of the machine.

machine the top of the body is formed of a' series of removable panels 50 upon removal of which, and of the slats 23 and 23, each of the forwarders may be swung up out of the machine as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 by rotation of the frame 12 and forwarder around the axis of the drive shaft 5. The front ends of the conveyor frames 12 are movably supportedby restingthe extended end cross members upon brackets 51 attached to the side walls of the tank.

For the removal of vapor from the enclosed compartments, we have inclined'the top wall at the delivering end of the machine'upwardly to form a hood 52 to receive the vapor, and have associated therewith a suitable blower 53 adapted to withdraw the vapor and discharge it into a convenient flue (not shown). The hood may be provided with depending .baflie plates 52 toprevent the blower.

The level of the liquid in the tankcompartments may be observed and maintained by means of laterally -mounted boxes 54, having central partitions 55 of a height somewhat less than the box, and communicating as at .56 with the interior of the tank. The'level of the tank liquid may be maintained to appear in the inner portions of the boxes, the excess overflowing the partition and passing out through the drain opening 56. The boxes may also serve for the introduction of washing compounds into other container or utensil having an approximately cylindrical body of suflicient passage of liquid spray into the length to enable it. to roll, will be carried through the device on the sloping racks 23 and 23 in gentle contact with the clips 20 acting as followers. Rubbing between the. containers and the conveyors which rapidly in detail the preferred embodiment of our invention, it should be clearly understood that the disclosure is merely for purposes of illustration and that manymodifications and variations will naturally occur to those skilled in the art. WVe aim in the subjoined claims to cover all such legitimate variations and modifications.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a device-of the class described, a

frame, a pair of shafts operatively mounted at opposite ends of said frame, a forwarder belt operatively supported by said shafts, a series of spaced bars mounted transversely on said belt, a plurality of laterally spaced stationary slats extending longitudinally of said belt, said slats overlying said bars and being supported thereon, and a plurality of followers mounted on said bars adapted to project through and pass along the spaces between said slats by the operation of said belt. I

2. In a device of the class described, a

frame, a pair of shafts operatively mounted at opposite ends of said frame, a forwarder belt operatively supported by said shafts, a series of spaced bars mounted transversely on said belt, a plurality of laterally spaced stationary slats extending longitudinally of said belt, said slats overlying said bars and being supported thereon, a plurality of followers mounted on said bars adapted to project through and pass along the spaces between said slats, and a pair of'stationary shoes mounted on said frame respectively underlying and supporting the ends of said bars as said bars move into supporting engagement with said slats by the operation of said belt.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set out hands.

THEODORE L. VALERIUS. OLAF LARSEN. 

